Combination tubing hanger and blow-out preventer



Patented Nlay 16,1933 I r 1,909,304

, U'NrrEosT TEs PATENT- OFFICE application filed April 16, 1931. Serial No. 530,649.

The invention relates :to an improvement While a certain form of the invention has in casing heads wherein certain mechanisms been disclosed it is intended that various are combined in the casinghead to enable a modifications and alterations may be made in complete closingof the well bore inside and the structure and operation thereof as the apoutside of thetubing. pended drawing merely illustrates one form 65 ,Various types of easing heads have been of the invention; and in this drawing devised heretofore in which'the tubing has Fig. 1 isa side elevation of a casing head been suspended in the well. However, it Is assembly arranged in accordance with the often desirable when changing the fittings present invention and showing certain parts above the wellto entirely close oil the well in section. so bore inside and outside of the tubing so that Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line appropriate changes or alterations may be 2 2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction made in the other fittings. With the idea in of the arrows. mind of providing a quickly removable tub- A well 'casin'gis illustrated at 2 and is of ing hanger which will permit closing .of the the usual type which is cemented or otherwise 65 flow of fluidthrough-the tubing and with the anchored in the earth and extends to the suridea of providing a closure around the out face in order to act as a support and anchor side of the tubing, the present assembly has for the'various fittings that are to be placed been devised. o upon the well. i It is usual to attach to this It is one of the objects of the invention to casing any fittings which are necessary in 7 provide a tubing hanger and blowout preorder to control the flow of fluid from the venter which may be assembled on the well as well and in the present illustration a blowa unitary structure; out preventer 4 is shown as attached to the Another object of the invention is to procasing 2 by the flanged connection 5. It is vide the invention with, a blowout preventer to be understood that this blowout preventer for the well casing and a combination tubmay be of any type which is adapted to close ing head. and a blowout preventer for the about a drill stem or string of pipe which is tubing. V in the well, and for purposes of illustration Another object of the invention is to proa well known t pe of blowout preventer has 30 vide a blowout preventer wherein the rams been illustrate are adapted to engage each other at an m- This preventer is known as the Cameron clination. l blowout preventer and may be of the pres- A stillfurther object-of the invention is sure-operated type wherein fluid pressure is 35 to provide complete closure for the well 0218- applied through the lines 6 in order to move mg and tubing by assembling two bl w the rams inside of the housing 7 so that they reventers on the same well. will close about the outside of a pipe such as Still another object of the invention is to '8, which may be in the well. It is usual to provide a combination blowout preventer and place a blowout preventer of this type on the 40 tubing hangerwhichmay be readily attached casing during the drilling operation so that to the well tubing and seat in position when in. event a high pressure formation is encounthe tubing is landed on the casing head. tered the blowout preventer may be closed It i 9180 n bj Q-i V H P about the drill stem in order to seal oil the vide in combination a blowout preventer, a area such as 9 inside of the casing. Howr tubing hanger and a tubing closure means on ever, when tubing is run into the well after a well head assembly. the drilling has been completed, it is also Still another object of the invention is to desirable to close ofi the area 9 in event the provide a pressure-operated blowout. prewell begins to blow out and particularly so venter-wherein the pressure is applied by a while the tubing is being run intothe well, 0 hand pump which may be manipulated to because if the well has not been mudded in or extend or retract the preventer rams. killed by filling it with mud, considerable pressure is usually encountered and some means must be provided to close off this pressure in event of emergency so that the blowout prerenter such as 4 is retained on the casing when the tubing is positioned. It is to be understood that the rams of the blowout preventer 4 have semi-circular cavities in the faces thereof so that the two rams will co-operate to close about the pipe 8. (iontrol of the blowout preventer to cause movement of the rams is accomplished by means of the control handle 10.

After the drilling has been completed it is usual to run a string of-tubing, which mabe represented by the pipe 8, into the well in order to flow the oil therefrom. This string of tubing extends to the bottom of the well and may have suitable perforated screen pipe or other filtering devices on the lower end thereof. This tubing'is arranged to be supported by a hanger structure 11, which is in turn mounted on a casing head 12. The

casing head may have been present during" the drilling operations and the flow lines 13 and 14 used to discharge the flow of flushing fluid used in the drilling operation, and the tapered bowl 15 thereof used to support slips or pipe-engaging means when the drill pipe is being raised or lowered into the well. It is understood that suitable valves may have been placed upon the lines 13 and 14 in order to close them in case of emergency. The short section of pipe 16 is in a sense a continuation of the casing 2 which has been placed in the upper side of the blowout preventer 4 in order to attach the casing head. When a heavy pressure is encountered in running the tubing into the well it is necessary that quick action be possible to insert the tubing and anchor it in position. In order to accomplish this a combination tubing hanger and blowout preventer has been provided which is indicated generally at 11. This hanger includes a housing or body portion 18, which is formed with a threaded connection at 19 to receive the string of tub- 8. These threads 19 are formed on the skirt 20 of the hanger, which is shown as tapered on its outer surface at 21 in order to seat in the bowl 15. If desired, suitable packing rings 22 may be provided on the outside of the skirt to engage against the bowl 15. Above the skirt 20 the body 18 is formed with an outstanding flange 23, which is arranged to seat upon the flange 24 of the easing head and be retained in position by bolts or other fastening elements 25. A suitable packing 26 may be positioned between the two flanges so that a complete seal will be possible when the nuts 27 are drawn tightly on the bolts 25. In this manner the tapered skirt 20 will be wedged into the bowl 15 and a positive seal assured.

In positioning this combination tubing one ram against the hanger. and blowout preventer it is intended that it will be attached to a section of pipe such as 8, which is to be the topmost section of the. string of tubing, and may thenbe sus-' pended in the well so that this section of tubing may be quickly councctedto the coupling which is usually up on the piece of pipe being lowered into the well. Thus, if an emergency arises it is only necessary to connect this section ofpipe to the coupling and drop it into position. in the bowl 15 and .aflix the bolts 25 so thatthe tubing is properly suspended and the tubing head will be anchored in position.. g

In order to close off the passage 30 through the tubing the housing 18 has been'provided with a pair of rams 31. These rams are arranged for movement in the chambers 32 and may be actuated by means of fluid pressure in the lines 33. Particular attention is-directed to the inclination of the chambers .32

and the rams 31 with respect to the passage 30." With this construction the contact faces 34 of the rams are inclined with respect to the body portion 35thereof. In'this manner the contact faces are of greater area than they would be if therams moved 1H3 horizontal plane and a greater wedging action of other may be obtained inthis manner,

The inclined faces 34 abut against each other when tlie'rams move downwardly and the wedging action of these two faces forms a much more efficient seal between the two rams than can be formed with devices which move in a horizontal plane. In addition, the surface 37 is presented to the pressure occurring in the pipe 8 and this pressure will be added to that in the chamber 32 in order to assist in providing a seal rams. Ifdesired, packing 38 of any desired type maybe positioned on the faces of the ram in order to insure a complete sea-l. It is also intended that suitable stop members or lugs to limit the inward movement of the rams 31 may be provided by co-operating members on the ram and the side of the chamber 32.

In order to operate the rams 31 pressure may be applied pipe 40. This pipe 40 is coupled to a special valve 41, which contains a rotatable valve member 42, which is provided with two elbow passages 43. Leading from this valve 41 are between the two three pressure lines 44, 45 and 46. 44 and to the lines 33 through the on each stroke of the handle 51 of the pump. In this manner fluid will be passed through the lines 33 into the chambers 32 to move the ramsdownwardly to closed position.

When, however, it is desired towithdraw the rams it is only necessary to rotate the control member 3250 that the passage 43' instead of connecting the pipes =10 and 44 will then form a continuation to connect the pipes 40 and 45, whereas the passage 43 will then connect the pipes 44 and 46. If the pump is then operated the discharge thereof will be returned to the tank 50 and the suction of the pump will withdraw'the fluid from the chambers 32 and in this manner .the rams will therefore be moved to retracted position. With this construction it is only necessary for a-single pump to accomplish operation of the rams and to insure proper manipulation thereof. In event, however, it is desired to operate the rams by hand, suitable thrust rods may beprovided as is usual in such constructions and such a rod is illustrated at 52'on the blowout preventer 4.

The body 18 above the blowout preventer carries an upstanding connection 53, which is arranged to receive a pipe or flow line 54, which will lead to a suitable Christmas tree connection or may receive any other desired fitting.

With the present assembly it is possible to close the blowout preventer 4 about the tubing in order to close the area 9' and while this operation is being performed the tubing hanger 11 may be landed in position in the bowl 15 and the rams 31 closed so that in this manner complete closure of the area 9 and passage 30 will be provided by the manipulation of the two blowout preventers.

While the illustration of Fig. 1 contemplates the use of the second blowout preventer as part of the tubing hanger these two may be made as separate parts and a gate valve used as the tubing closure means if desired.

What Iclaim is:

1. A combination tubing hanger and blowout preventer including a body portion, means to seat said body in a casing head, a passage thru said body, means to connect a tubing to said body in alignment with said passage, and means to close said passage, including a pair of downwardly inclined rams.

2. A combination tubing hanger and blowout preventer including a body portion, means to seat said body in a casing head, a passage thru said body, means to connect a tubing to said body in alignment with said passage, said body including a pair of rams movable in said body at an inclination to the vertical axis thereof.

3. A combination tubing hanger and blowout preventer including a body portion, means to seat said body in a casing head, a passage through said body, means to connect a tubing to said body in alignment with said passage, said body including a pair of rams movable in said body at an inclination to the vertical axis thereof, and contacting faces on said ra ns disposed in the plane of the vertical axis of said body.

4. The combination with a casing head assembly of a tubing hanger, said casing head having outlets thereon, a blowout preventer on said hanger to close the tubing passage, and a blowout preventer on the casing below said hanger to close about the outside of the tubing carried by said hanger below said casing outlets.

5. In a well head assembly a casing, a blowout preventer thereon to close said casing, a casing head having outlets above said preventer, a tubing hanger on said head, a tubing carried by said hanger, and a tubing closure means on said hanger.

6. In a wellhead assembly a casing and tubing, a blowout preventer thereon to close said casing about said tubing, a casinghead having outlets above said preventer, a tublng hanger on said head, a tubing carried by said hanger, and a tubing closure means onsaid hanger whereby said preventer may close off said casing, and said closure means may close ofi' said tubing each independently of the other.

7. In a well head assembly a casing and tubing, a blowout preventer .thereon to close said casing, a casing head having outlets above said preventer, a tubing hanger on said head, a tubing carried by said hanger, and a tubing closure means on said-hanger.

8. In a well head assembly including a casing and tubing the combination of means to flow fluid from said casing and said tubing simultaneously or independently, and means to out oif the flow through said casing or said tubing below any openings in either of said casing or said tubing independently of each other.

9. The combination of a well casing having side outlets, a tubing therein, means to close ofi said casing around said tubing at an elevation below any outlets in said casing, and means independent of said first means to close off the passage through said tubing at an elevation below that of any openings therein.

10. In a well head assembly a casing and. tubing,

a blowout preventer on said casing to close-between said casing and the tubing, a casing head having outlets thereon above said preventer, a tubing hanger on said head to support said tubing, and a second blowout preventer above said hanger to close off sald tubing.

11. In a well head assembly a casing with side outlets, a blowout preventer thereon below any outlets on said casing, and a casing head abovesaid preventer.

12. The combination of a well casing, atubing therein, flow outlets on both said casing and said tubing, means in said casing to close ofi said casing against the escape of fluid through said casing flow outlets, and means independent of said first means to close off the flow of fluid through said tubing at an elevation below said outlet therefrom.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature this 10th day of April, A. D. 1931.

ROBERT A. MUELLER. 

